NOTE: This version of the roster matrix is no longer current. It reflects the 2011 changes from the start of short-season ball until the end of the 2011 World Series. It should now be considered a historical reference document. For the active roster matrix covering the 2011-2012 off-season, click here.

With the short-season minor league schedule now underway, it is time for another refresh of the St. Louis Cardinals system roster matrix. This version will reflect the changes made from the first week of 2011 short-season play. The previous matrix reflects the rosters as they evolved from the end of spring camp until then.

If you are new to the blog and not familiar with the Cardinals organization roster matrix, here is quick summary:

In the first week of 2011 short-season play, the St. Louis Cardinals had 288 players under contract from top to bottom, including a full 40-man roster. The matrix places each one at his current assigned level in the system based on his placement at the end of last season as well as by position. It is kept updated daily or as transactions occur.

Nowhere else will you find this current and comprehensive single-page view of the entire Cardinals organization.

Don’t be concerned about the order of the players’ names within a team. It doesn’t signify anything.

The players on the 40-man roster are called out in bold.

The short-season pitchers are broken out into returnees and summer 2011 signees. The latter group is either denoted by the round drafted or FA (for free agent).

At the end is a group of currently inactive and unassigned players. The final group, 2011 unsigned draftees, is not a part of the signed total.

Full team rosters and player profiles at The Cardinal Nation

Remember that to get detailed profile information on every single one of these 288 Cardinals players, simply check out their free player profiles freshly updated now at The Cardinal Nation.com / Scout.com. You can see bios, photos, videos, articles, news items, links to current season and career stats and much more – everything you need to know about a player in one place.

Click on the following links to be taken to one of the nine team pages at The Cardinal Nation:

Once there, just click on a player’s name to be taken to his individual profile page. For example, here is Shelby Miller’s profile.

Looking ahead and back

Now that you’ve found this page once, remember one of three ways to get back here. Bookmark the page, type “Roster Matrix” in the dark blue search box at the upper right or use the dropdown menu at the top of the page: “Players/Staff” > “Depth Charts/Roster Matrix”.

For details behind past rosters and transactions, check out the earlier versions of the Cardinals organization roster matrix as follows.

6/27: IF Nick Punto and 3B David Freese off StL DL. OF Andrew Brown and IF Pete Kozma from StL to Mem. OF Dutch Deol (17th round) signed, assigned to GCL. LHP Justin Edwards from Bat to QC. RHS Carlos Martinez and 2B Starlin Rodriguez from QC to PB. 2B Jose Garcia from Mem to Spr. IF Luis Mateo to PB DL. New total: 290 players.

6/28: RHP Richard Castillo from Spr to PB. IF Freddie Bynum to Mem DL. LHS John Gast from PB to Spr. RHR Eric Binder from JC to Bat.

6/29: RHR Aaron Terry released from PB. IF Domnit Bolivar from Spr to PB. IF Packy Elkins from PB to QC. IF Joey Bergman from QC to Bat. StL RHR Ryan Franklin released. OF Reggie Williams from Bat to GCL. New total: 288 players.